im only lvl 22 smithing and i h.q gob helms and armor like no tomorrow.... for instant if i buy 5 helms i get 3 steel ingots 1 iron and either a bronze or breakage... but in all for 5k spent on helms i make 15+ K in a matter of minutes... so i doubt that max skill up is 30 on these items as per i get no skill ups....<ever>

Recently added, unbenounced to me, Steel ingots are the HQ' version of this synth, aka 4x iron ore = 1 iron ingot, HQ = 1 steel ingot. I recently found this out after trying to make regular iron ingots at lvl 59 smithing

Goblin Helms can make either 1Bronze Ingot, 1Iron Ingot, or 1Steel Ingot. The Steel Ingot being the HQ2 synth. Your success rate in getting Steel Ingots is all based on your Smithing skill level (the higher it is the better chance you have). you can desynth Goblin Helms at a minimum skill of around 25 (I DO NOT RECCOMEND THIS, AT ALL). Its a bettr idea to wait until around lv50 or so, and the main reason is because you have a very high chance of getting HQs at that level. lv30 skill is decent too.

Kasber is correct. I am level 30 Smithing and when I use a lightning crystal and an Antican Pauldron, it says it's beyond my skill level. Please change this to the correct value. I've had pauldrons clogging up my safe and I'd like some accurate information please.

As stated below on a couple posts...Yes by de-synthing Lightning x1, Gob Mails= either 3 Bronze Ingots, 2 Iron Igots, or 1 Steel Ingot. The true required skill for this to really get best results is 30 Blacksmithing for sure. In de-synthing items there is no skill gains at all...De-synthing is in its own entity...Gob Helms are good to =) This is a good way to accumulate Iron Ingots for Skill Building or for profit reasons. Also, I've heard to never de-synth on Watersdays cuz you have lesser chance of success. The higher or closer you are to LVL 30 Blacksmithing the better the results and success in de-synthing these =)

MY friend whos a level 28 smith has told me this. You use a lightning crystal. Goblin helms will give a single steel iron or bronze ingot. The better your skill is, the more likely you'll get the better ingot (Steel>Iron>Bronze). Goblin mails will give you 1 steel ingot, 2 iron ingots, or 3 bronze ingots. My friend said around level 28 he most commonly got steel, so I'm guessing maybe 23-25 you'll get the two irons.

Ok, I've been obsessed with Iron Ingots and Goblin Helms since I was a LVl 6 Smith. I submitted this Iron Ingot/Golbin Helm recipe. Here's what I know:

Lightning Crystals: These things are the best crystal in the game. You can take items and split them back down into their components. You can split endless things, like hairpins, goblin gear, shields, etc, back down into their core ingredients. I don't think Guild members will give you these recipes... just experiment. What you get from a split seems to be directly related to your skills in the craft.

Goblin Helms: These are pure gold... well.. steel at least. You can get Bronze Ingots, Iron Ingots, and Steel Ingots from these bad boys. In my experience as a 15 Smith, Bronze is the most common, with Steel following, and finally Iron. For the best results, you NEED advanced synthesis support. Helps to work on Lightningday (light purple) too.

The ingots: These actually don't sell very well in a Bazaar. I tried in San d'Oria and Bastok. You're better off using your cheaply made ingots in further recipes. Steel goes for about 3500 a brick, Iron about 2500, and Bronze about 200. Anybody who knows the Goblin Helm trick will just use those to get ingots rather than by them from scum like me :\

I'm going to submit a request for a specific Lightning Crystal crafting section.. they are unique and very valuable to me.

aight I try 7 time to use this recipe and it does make iron ingot but rarely and hard and it also make bronze ingot. I'm a lvl 20 blacksmith and 4 lightning crystal broken in row. If only they were always iron ingot :(